Franklin resident publishes Bucket List Journal

Sunday

Nov 5, 2017 at 7:26 PM

Scott Calzolaio MetroWest Daily News @scottcaz

FRANKLIN – When Kim DiCarlo wrote "publish a book" on her bucket list, she didn’t have in mind the type of book.

She eventually created a journal with 100 slots for others to list their own bucket list items. The list at the front of the journal serves as a table of contents for the empty pages after it. Those empty pages are for bucket listers to record their experiences once the item is crossed off, or to express their desire for the future, she said.

“Just put down anything that you want to do, or be in life,” DiCarlo, 49, said. “There are no limits. You can do it when you’re little, or when you’re older. Just write something down and try to make an effort to do it.”

DiCarlo, a Franklin native, said she thought of the idea when she realized her daughter had many aspirations that were changing as she grew older. She said she was inspired by the bucket list of a child, and its ever-changing nature.

“It would have been nice for me to have logged everything down on my daughter and have her read it when she gets older to see if she accomplishes any of her goals,” she said.

DiCarlo’s personal version of her bucket list journal is leather bound. Her publisher, Dorrance Publishing, took a photo of her leather journal and made it into the cover of the version on sale at RoseDogBookstore.com

In her journal, her own bucket list sits; partially competed and ever growing. High on her list is to go to Montana. Another priority of hers is to give money to the homeless.

“The first $2,000 I make off of this book, if I make that much, I plan to go out to Boston and hand out $100 bills to the homeless, that’s big on my list,” she said. “If I make more, I’ll probably give more.”

The goals and aspirations on her list are mostly wholesome and relatively simple. DiCarlo wants very much to be a grandmother, she also wants to visit the Northern lights, and to visit a wolf sanctuary.

“I want to listen to the wolves howl in the wild,” she said.

There are a lot of bucket lists out there, she said. But many of them define and create the list for the reader, and it seemed odd to her because they weren’t her goals.

“The only thing I could find was journals with blank pages, and I wanted more structure than that,” she said. “That’s why I designed one myself.”

She said that some day, her children will be able to live her life through the book, and maybe even accomplish some of the things she wasn’t able to.

DiCarlo believes firmly that no ambition is too large, but to always be aware of others.

“No goal is impossible, but think about other people,” she said. “Think about being kind, do good things in life.”

Scott Calzolaio can be reached at 508-734-0389 or scalzolaio@wickedlocal.com.